Over the winter break Carmen and I got away from the Michigan grey and went to Southwest Texas. While we were there we made a music video of my composition Silver Jack in Big Bend National Park. With only the cacti and the creosote present we wanted to share this beautiful place with you. https://youtu.be/tzzhnDJxd7g
Delicate Omens Official Release by Folias Duo on October 6, 2019 on the Folias Music label Flutist Carmen Maret and guitarist Andrew Bergeron, the husband-and-wife duo “daring in self-written music” (American Record Guide) continue to carve out their uncommon niche in the classical music world as performers who are also composers. The Folias Duo’s newest release…
This year we started our 2018 California route with a milonga in Sacramento for Tango on Broadway. We continued with a concert in San Francisco and then we played for a milonga in Ventura hosted by our friends Stephen and Deb who curate Quantum Tango, a group we’ve worked with five times now. We then made…
When we tour we play two different kind of gigs–we play for concerts and we play for tango dances called milongas. The milongas on the Dreaming to Live Tour represented 9 out or 27 performances in 7 states. The great thing about playing a dance is people listening to your music and putting it into motion…
On the Dreaming to Live tour we had the opportunity to play a Tuesday morning concert at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Thanks to our friend Debbie Crosser we got a great video of the performance. It was great to play our music in such a beautiful setting. There also was a great appreciative audience. Here…
One of the more difficult things for a couple of touring musicians to find is a good place to practice on the road. Moving to a new place everyday doesn’t leave a lot of options for a quiet focused environment. So, on Dreaming to Live tour we invented the picnic table practice room formula: Start the…
After a great summer of touring and a composing residency in Colorado it was time for a new music premieres concert. I get asked all of the time, “Since you wrote the piece then can’t you already play it?”. The answer to this question is, not really. Just because I came up with the composition…
Carmen and I have been playing arrangements of Astor Piazzolla ever since we met in September of 2002. We have played many different pieces by Piazzolla but recently we decided that it was time for some new Piazzolla arrangements. Escualo The first piece that I decided to arrange, Escualo, was originally written as a violin…
Every spring there is a great gathering of guitar ensembles called the Mid-America Guitar Ensemble Festival. This year it was in our home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The festival always features a mass guitar ensemble to play a premier composition written for that year’s festival. This year I was asked to write the composition! The piece…
We started off our concert week in Idaho at a whitewater park of all places. What a cool venue! Here is a sample of Carmen’s African flute piece Mamba Guinee. https://youtu.be/AcmXwTDlKo8
https://youtu.be/Sw_t71JZswc https://youtu.be/AMF1S5H45_o We have started a new collaboration for Folias with bassoon. Marissa Peak formed a trio with us which performed four concerts together in Michigan. Andrew arranged his Folias flute and guitar pieces “Border Trilogy” and “Cabrales” for flute, bassoon, and guitar. It was really great to add such a rich low timbre to…
In early March of 2013 it was way past time to get started and finish a solo guitar piece for a recital at Hope College of all Michigan guitarist composers playing their own pieces. In order to get myself in a place of solitude required for the task I rented a cabin in the Porcupine…
In January we once again had the privilege of having violinist/violist Christopher Martin join us for one of our performances. It has been great to add another instrument into our ensemble in many different ways. As composers and arrangers it really opens up the possibilities with adding another instrument. As performers it is great to…
On January 18th we had the pleasure of being part of the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s Sunday classical series. Our program featured the premier of my piece “Folias Variations” which uses the famous 16th century melody in d minor from La Folía, which is one of the oldest remembered themes in western classical music. I had…
We ended our Viewpoints CD release tour this month at a really wonderful chamber music series in Detroit called Chamber Music at the Scarab Club. The series is curated by two women, Velda Kelly and Nadine Deleury, who have nurtured the series for the past 17 years! There were two great things about being part of…
Thanks to Joan Conway for having us at her Free@3 Chamber Music Series at Central Reformed Church in Holland, MI. Nice audience! Nice acoustics! This is Carmen’s tango piece Cumparsita Cats.
Thanks to Dave Martin for having us on the Hope College Guest Artist Series. Here are a couple of videos that capture this lovely evening where we featured music from our new release Viewpoints.
I got busy with my pinhole camera while we are on the road and captured a nice scene for “Cabrales,” the piece Andrew and I wrote together in Asturias, Spain. Folias – Cabrales from “Viewpoints” from Carmen Maret on Vimeo.
Here we are – drove seven hours from Michigan, got out of the car and voila! Folias live on Iowa Public Radio. Thanks to Elias and Barney for helping out with this one.
Here is a video of one of our favorite Argentine songs, Alfonsina y el mar. We created this arrangement for a lovely gig in Marion, Iowa at the Campbell Steele Gallery. Folias – Alfonsina y El Mar from Carmen Maret on Vimeo.
